Bob Marley in the Church Hymnal

I am a little behind on my news, about a week or two ago it was announced that Bob Marley’s One Love and Peter Tosh’s version of Psalm 27 will be included in the new hymnal for the Jamaican Anglican Church.

THE Anglican church in Jamaica will include the lyrics of songs rendered by two of the country’s most famed reggae artistes – Bob Marley and Peter Tosh – in the next publication of its church hymnal due by the end of the year.

Rector of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Rev Canon Ernle Gordon, made the announcement yesterday at the 2007 Michael Manley awards function for community self-reliance at the Little Theatre in Kingston.

Gordon, speaking with the Observer after the awards, said the songs will be Tosh’s version of Psalm 27 and Marley’s internationally acclaimed One Love, but he said the use of reggae rhythms in the Anglican Church was nothing new.
“We’ve been having reggae and mento masses for 25 years,” he said, noting that One Love was used in an ordination service at the St Andrew Parish Church two years ago.

The reason behind incorporating what is generally referred to in Christendom as secular music into the church book of hymns, said Rev Gordon, was the need to establish a Caribbean interpretation of theology.
“I don’t live in England; I live here, so my theology and how I think must reflect my cultural morals. The theology has to be Caribbean-oriented. You have to interpret the Bible according to where you are,” he said. “The church in Jamaica is out of date,” he added.

At the same time, Gordon said the use of the reggae rhythms was not secular, since Anglican theology does not separate the sacred and the secular.

However, the rector made it clear that the emerging genre referred to as reggae gospel was different from what the Anglican church was doing. The difference, he said, boiled down to the words that are used in each case.
“We make it clear that the words we use are correct theology and that they are catholic theology. We even have the Lord’s prayer in mento. (but) whether we use ancient words or not, we make certain that the words relate to the Bible and to our own Anglican interpretation of it,” said Gordon.

Gordon said, too, that unlike many of the proponents of gospel reggae, the Anglican church does not use music for entertainment, but as an offering to God.

“We move our bodies to the songs because we are beings of spirit,” he said. At the same time, he blamed the interpretation of the Bible to which the majority of the Christian world now subscribes for much of the divergent beliefs that exist among the various denominations in Jamaica.

“We have to pick from the Bible and relate it to society. We have to do more expository preaching where we teach and educate the congregation,” said Gordon.

I’m not sure I agree with what Rev Gordon believes about changing theology. I think the culture around you can influence your worship (such as music choices) and your understanding, but it shouldn’t change your theology. Maybe that’s just the preacher’s kid in me, but Christian church theology is handed down straight from the Apostle Paul.

However, I love the music of Bob Marley, and no one can deny that his is religious music. The debate comes from mixing to different religions, Rastafarian and Anglican. I’d love to hear your comments about this.

Anyway, enough about controversial subjects like theology and church. One Love by Bob Marley is off of one of the greatest albums of the last century, Exodus. Take a listen to it and see what you think;

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If you liked it, you can get it over at Amazon.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any Peter Tosh to share, but I would like to hear his version of Psalm 27.

Posted on August 15, 2007 - Filed Under Jamaican News, Music

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